Alternate Points of View
by Rose Stetson
Summary: What if Samantha and Kawalsky were joined by an alternate alternate Jack O'Neill when they arrived at Area 51 and sent to the SGC in Point of View?
1. Alternates

**Alternate Points of View**

_Set: During "Point of View"- an alternate look at the episode_

_Summary: What if an alternate Jack from an alternate alternate reality came through the Mirror just after Samantha and Kawalsky?_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, or any of the other characters. I just pretend...  
_

The storage room at Area 51 was quiet and Lt. Harvey liked it that way. It meant no worries…for the most part. Of course there was always the possibility of the occasional power-hungry politician who would send someone to breach security as they tried to take some of the alien technology for personal use, but that only happened every other month or so.

Harvey reached for the deck of cards in his pocket. "Cards?"

The airman next to him nodded vigorously, and soon the game was underway.

* * *

It was almost done with the airman winning by only two points before the alarms went off. Both young men looked at the monitor. Lt. Harvey had to shake his head in surprise. 

"What? Have we inhaled some toxic alien gas?" The airman asked.

Harvey rolled his eyes. This airman was obviously the new guy. "Nope." He pointed to the camera's captured video. "You were here last week, weren't you, Casey?"

"Uh huh."

"Well, did you run into Major Carter from SG-1 at Stargate Command? She was here to give us some feedback on the new naquadah reactors."

The airman's eyebrows were drawn together in confusion. "Describe her."

"Well, unless my eyes deceive me, she looks a hell of a lot like this woman here. Except…"

"She's wearing a wig!" The airman said, recognition dawning.

"Right…" Harvey said, eyeing the airman with the look he reserved for his 'special' coworkers. "She totally didn't just appear out of nowhere."

The look of horror on the newbie's face was priceless to Harvey, and he looked back at the monitor before Casey saw his smirk. What he saw next added to his own discomfort. There were three people in the room, and from the looks of it, the Major General was holding a baby in his arms.

This was going to get sticky.


	2. Broken Hearts

_Author's Note: Due to the fact that we'll be dealing with a few different alternate realities, I'll make some clarification notes. This really applies after the alternate people meet the series people. In this chapter, as Samantha watches the goings-on in the mirror, she calls General O'Neill "Jack" because that's how she referred to her husband. Everybody understand? Hope so. 'Cuz if not, this is going to be fun!_

_**Colonel O'Neill** is the Jack from the series, **Jack** is the Jack from Samantha's reality and **General O'Neill** is the Jack that comes through the mirror. **Sam** is the Sam from the series, **Samantha** is the Sam who comes through the mirror, and **Carter** is the Sam from General O'Neill's reality._

_Enjoy the next chapter! _

_

* * *

_

Dr. Samantha Carter and Major Charles Kawalsky arrived on the other side of the Quantum Mirror, dazed and confused. "How do we know the goa'uld aren't on Earth in this reality?"

"We don't."

"So, what? We wait around for that first prime guy to have us killed?"

Samantha clenched her teeth in repressed emotion. Kawalsky had hit a nerve, and he was instantly sorry about it. "We take a chance, Charlie. Just like we always do."

He put his hand on her shoulder as she shut off the mirror. "I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't mean for that to sound-"

She turned and looked at him. "I know."

The mirror activated again, and Sam looked at Kawalsky before they both whirled around, setting off the alarms in the storage rooms.

"Damn!" Kawalsky cursed under his breath.

Meanwhile, Samantha stared at the mirror. She could see Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter running toward the Quantum Mirror. Only this Samantha Carter had short, blond hair. There was a small bundle in Carter's arms. She was shouting something to Jack as a Jaffa came around the corner. Before Samantha's very eyes, a staff blast hit Carter in the back. She fell into Jack's arms, depositing the bundle into Jack's arms before she fell to the ground, dead. Jack swallowed and then pressed his hand against the glass, the bundle tucked safely in one arm.

He appeared on the other side and stared at the mirror for a few seconds. Then, he glanced down at the bundle. He pulled the blanket down and revealed the blond curls of a baby.

Samantha gasped and Jack whirled around. For a moment, they stared at each other.

"Samantha?"

She gulped. "Jack?"

Jack looked back at the mirror where Carter lay dead and a Jaffa stood staring at the mirror. Suddenly, the Jaffa looked like he'd been taken by surprise, his eyes darting around the room.

Jack turned urgently. "The Auto Destruct."

Samantha nodded as she quickly shut off the mirror. As she did so, the SFs surrounded them. She looked into Jack's confused face and then at the infant that he held in his arms. Tears threatened to fall, so she turned instead to the SFs. "We're from two alternate realities. I am Dr. Samantha Carter from the SGA. This is Major Charles Kawalsky also from the SGA and…"

"Major General Jack O'Neill. Commander of the SGC." Jack filled in.

She looked at him. "Major General? My Jack was still a colonel. Commander of SG-1."

"Commander of SG-1?" He asked, confused. "Where was Colonel Hammond?"

She was about to respond, but the SF leader interrupted. "Silence!"

Samantha tensed. She glanced at Jack as the baby began to whimper.

"What the hell is that?"

"A baby, airman. Ever seen one?" Jack snapped.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Her. What's wrong with her. I'll tell you what's wrong with her. She's scared. Her mother was just killed by a Jaffa and you decided to yell at the people surrounding her."

The airman had the grace to look suitably apologetic, and General O'Neill focused his attention on the baby.

Samantha nearly cried as she watched the man who looked exactly like her late husband rock and shush the baby girl. Within a few minutes, she yawned and placed her fist in her mouth, sucking on it contentedly. "That's my Gracie." He said as he tenderly kissed her forehead.

Grace. The name repeated through Samantha's mind with great force. It was the name of Jack's mother. The name he had wanted to give their firstborn daughter. Obviously that hadn't changed between the two realities.

"Come with me." The SF demanded.

Jack looked up sharply, a hardness returning to his features as his arm tightened protectively around his daughter. As he turned to follow the SF, his gaze lingered on Samantha. She could see tears glisten in his eyes, though none fell down his cheeks.

"Jack." She said in a tiny whisper as tears slipped down her cheeks.

He began to give her a smile. That smile that she had missed for the last three days. But then, his eye filled with sadness again, and he followed the SF to the holding room where he would stay until the commanders of the facility made a decision about what to do with the intruders.


	3. Mirror Images

A few hours later, at theSGC, Colonel Jack O'Neill walked into the infirmary. "General, you said…" He stopped when he saw Samantha lying on the cot in front of him. "Whoa! What happened to your hair?"

"That's not your Carter."

Colonel O'Neill turned to find Major General Jack O'Neill hop off a nearby cot, flexing his arm where a sample of his blood had been retrieved.

"Hello…" The Colonel said, slightly confused by seeing his double.

"General…O'Neill." One of the nurses said.

He turned. "Yes?"

"We're ready to examine your daughter. You said that…"

"I know." He turned back to General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill. "If you'll excuse me…" He turned to follow the nurses.

Colonel O'Neill turned to his commanding officer and friend. "Daughter?"

"He arrived at the facility carrying an infant."

"From where?" Jack asked, his eyes wide with confusion.

"The Quantum Mirror. We arrived from different realities at your Area 51 a few hours ago." Samantha said, quietly. "His wife was killed on their way to the Mirror."

"What's going on?"

Major Sam Carter walked in just then. "Colonel, is there a pr-?"

Her commanding officer turned. "Carter, meet…Carter."

"You call her 'Carter'?"

Colonel O'Neill looked at his second-in-command and then at her counterpart. "Yeah."

"Why?"

"What else am I supposed to call her?" He asked, eyeing her with confusion.

"Samantha?"

Sam looked at Samantha with confusion. "Why would he do that? He's my commanding officer. Not my boyfriend."

Samantha's face fell even farther.

"You mean Sam's in the military?" Kawalsky asked.

Jack turned, even more surprised than he had been before. "Kawalsky? You're…"

"Dead? I know. Been hearing that all day. But seeing you alive is a head-trip for me too, so I guess…we're even."

Colonel O'Neill and Sam both looked stunned.

"I'm…what?"

"You were executed by Apophis's first prime three days ago, just a few days after the ships began attacking Earth." Kawalsky's eyes drifted over toward Samantha. "I'm sorry, Sam."

She nodded, though the dam inside was about to burst. "It's not the same between us in this reality, is it?"

Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter exchanged puzzled glances, but an infant's cry startled them both. Sam turned to look at Samantha. "Is that-?"

She shook her head. "No."

Suddenly, General O'Neill rounded the corner, the crying infant nestled in his arms. He was whispering softly to her as he rocked her gently. "There you go, Gracie. The doctor just wanted to make sure you're okay." He paused and smiled tenderly as she gurgled in response. "I know. I don't like it when they stick me with needles either."

Sam watched the tenderness that General O'Neill exuded while holding the tiny girl with amazement. Grace. What a fitting name for the child, she thought. After all, it had only taken a few moments in her father's arms to soothe her cries.

Meanwhile Colonel Jack O'Neill stared at the pair with different thoughts. The speech pattern and rocking reminded him of days long ago when Charlie had been a baby. He was suddenly overwhelmed with emotions that he had long since tried to bury. Feelings of nostalgia, loss and loneliness swept over him. He turned to General Hammond. "May I be excused?"

There was compassion in his eyes as he nodded. "Of course, Colonel."

He turned to everyone around him. "Major Carter, Dr. Carter, General Hammond, General…O'Neill, Kawalsky." Then, he turned to leave.

As he did so, General Hammond turned to Sam. "Major, would you escort General O'Neill to one of the VIP rooms?"

She nodded, "Yes, sir." General O'Neill looked up and followed Sam with a certain sadness in his features that could not be placed for any of the individuals in the room except for Samantha and Kawalsky.

Then, Hammond turned to Daniel and Teal'c who had just arrived. "Dr. Jackson, would you be so kind as to escort Dr. Carter to her room?"

"Of course, General."

Dr. Janet Fraiser turned to the archaeologist. "In a few minutes. I need to conclude my examination."

He nodded. "No problem."

"And Teal'c, would you escort Major Kawalsky…"

George Hammond wasn't able to finish his order before a vehement Kawalsky lunged at Teal'c. Fortunately, the SFs were able to restrain him before he hurt Teal'c.

"Major, what is the problem?" Hammond asked.

"You trust him?"

"He's a member of SG-1, just like Jack, Sam and me." Daniel explained.

"He's a Jaffa."

"That may be so, Major, but he is currently under my command, and problems with my people will be taken up with me." Hammond said, angrily.

"Maybe someone convinced him to turn on the goa'uld, Charlie." Samantha said, soothingly.

Kawalsky looked at Samantha and hung his head in shame. "I request another escort, sir."

"I'll take him." Daniel piped up.

"Thank you, Dr. Jackson. Teal'c, will you escort Dr. Carter to her room when Dr. Fraiser is finished?"

"Indeed." He said, bowing his head in submission.


	4. Fine Lines

Sam approached the VIP room and opened the door. "Here you are, sir." She said with a smile.

"Thanks." He said, little emotion in his voice.

The infant lying in his arms raised her arms up toward Sam. "Ma."

General O'Neill closed his eyes as Sam tentatively reached for the child. "Do you mind?" She asked.

"Go ahead. I keep trying to think she's a daddy's girl, but…"

Sam held the infant close and she nuzzled up to her. "We were married in your reality, weren't we?" She asked, softly.

Tears moistened the hardened general's eyes. "Yeah. She would have come with, but…"

"The other Samantha saw your wife die, didn't she?"

"Yeah."

There was a very long, pregnant silence. "How old is she?"

"Grace? She's ten months old."

Sam closed her eyes as tears moistened her own eyes. She clutched the tiny child in her arms as if her life depended on it. "I'm sorry that you had to…"

"Don't be. It's just the way things happened." He said, trying to resist the urge to caress her cheek. She looked so much like his Sam. The way her hair was cut, the way she smiled. The way her eyes moistened when she was near tears. The way she held little Grace…

God, he was becoming such a softie.

Then again, it wasn't every day that your wife died.

"Sir?"

He didn't respond. It had been two years since she had called him 'sir.'

"General?"

Again, he didn't respond.

"Jack?"

He turned. "Yes?"

"I should probably go. This…I shouldn't…"

"Sam. I need you." He said, simply, pulling her by the hand into the VIP room and closing the door.

"Sir…"

"Don't call me that. It's Jack." He said, letting himself believe that this was his Sam.

"I'm sorry, but…I'm not her." She said, mournfully as she carefully placed the now-sleeping Grace into his arms.

As she turned to leave, she heard him whisper: "Samantha!"

She had never heard Jack O'Neill sound so vulnerable. So desperate. It made her ache inside. For some unknown reason, she wanted to hold him. To tell him that everything was going to be all right. That she would never leave his side…

It was impossible. He wasn't from her reality. She could never allow him- a general in the air force in his reality- to reach her like this. No matter what reality it was in, it was against regulations. She knew better than that.

But she had wanted him ever since she had walked into that Briefing room.

"Jack…"

Baby Grace was now on the bed, and he was striding toward her. He placed both of his wonderfully strong hands on her cheeks "Don't. Don't rationalize this away. Please. I need you."

He captured her mouth in a tender caress. It was everything that she had thought a kiss from Jack would be like.

NO! Her mind shouted. THIS ISN'T YOUR JACK!

She pulled away. "Please."

"Sam, let me do this."

"I'm not your wife." She said, pain in her eyes as she contemplated the pain that she was inevitably sending his way. "I'm sorry that she died, and I'm sorry that she left you behind, but…I can't fix this."

With that, she left the room to go to her own quarters where she thought about the injustice of it all.


	5. Helping

Jack walked down the hallway of the SGC, not sure what to do with himself. In another reality, he had another kid. A beautiful baby girl. Painful memories coursed over him. He thought that he would have been ready for something like that. After all, he had let the Reetou kid call himself Charlie.

But that was different. He knew he wasn't ready to have another kid. But in another reality, he had another kid.

That was, if Charlie had even been born in the first place.

The very thought of these Alternate realities made his head spin. What if he had never met or married Sara? What if Charlie had never been born because he had never met Sara…

He was so confused.

He passed Sam's lab and stopped. Maybe she could explain it to him better. He walked into the lab to find it empty. In fact, it looked as though no one had been there for the last few hours. Where was Carter? He asked himself.

* * *

Sam stepped out of her quarters, sniffling. It was time to get back to work on her report of the new naquadah reactor. Hopefully, she could finish that today and get it to the eggheads at Area 51. She smiled. The Colonel was rubbing off on her. She closed her eyes. Undoubtedly that was how General O'Neill's relationship with his wife had started. Simple things like calling the scientists 'eggheads' and saying things like 'for cryin' out loud.'

"Carter!"

She took a deep breath. This was obviously her Jack, the other Jack had called her Samantha.

"Sir?" She asked, turning as she hoped that her tears were no longer visible.

He stopped. "Carter, you okay?"

Damn, she must look like she'd been crying. Not a way to keep up the super soldier image. "Just fine."

"You sure? 'Cuz I've been trying to wrap my head around this alternate reality thing and it's…well, it's confusing me."

"And you'd like me to explain it to you?"

He eyed her red, puffy eyes with trepidation. "Carter, I can come back later if you want."

She smiled. "Don't worry about it. Just had a little run-in with General O'Neill."

"Run-in? If that jerk hurt you…"

"No." She responded, quickly. "No, he was the one who was hurting."

"His wife?"

"Samantha Carter."

He closed his eyes. "Damn!"

She nodded. "I guess she looked a lot like I look now. It…it really threw him for a loop."

"Oh."

"How are you doing with this twin thing?"

He opened his mouth. "Well…it's…messing with my head too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean…never mind."

"He kissed me, you know."

Jack looked up. "What?"

"Yeah. I got the distinct impression that he wanted more than that, but…not with me. He wanted to make sure that she was still there, and…I'm not her."

"You okay?"

She smiled, sadly. "I guess, I just don't know how to help. I feel like I'm just making the situation worse."

"Carter, you could never make the situation worse."

A tear fell unchecked from her eye. "I think I already have."


	6. Crossing Realities

General Jack O'Neill sat in his room, crestfallen. She was gone. His mind knew it, but his heart refused to accept it. It was bad enough that she had died in the first place, but did he really have to come to an alternate reality where there were already two Sams?

He heard the shivering sigh of little Grace as she took a deep breath, lying on her back in a small portable crib in the corner of the room. He looked over at her, and watched her stomach rise and fall with each breath. Sam had died protecting her. Protecting her future.

The Asgard had warned them that Grace pose a threat to the Goa'uld and other races like them. They had disregarded their warnings, refusing to send Grace away to some alien planet because of her partial Ancient heritage. Now, Jack almost wished that they had. Not that he would have sent Grace alone- she wasn't even a year old yet. But he should have insisted that he and Sam went along. They could have been perfectly happy on another planet in another part of the galaxy. They would have been together.

There was a knock on the door. "Just leave it on the table and close the door on your way out." He ordered.

The door opened, and closed, but he could sense someone coming closer to him . He began to turn. "I told you to put the tray on the…"

He stopped as he saw Dr. Samantha Carter. She gave a timid smile. "Do you mind if I join you for a moment or two?"

He took a deep breath. "Whatever."

She sat on the bed, a few feet away from him, showing her hesitance in coming here. She looked at her hands as she played with them. "I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but…I also know that she would have been here to hear whatever it was that you needed to say."

He didn't answer. She looked sideways at him before reaching into her BDU pocket. She pulled out a crinkled picture, and looked at it. "I don't understand exactly what you're feeling, but my husband was killed three days ago when the goa'uld attacked."

He was barely listening, let alone looking at her. She looked at the man in the picture and then glanced at the man sitting next to her. They looked so similar, and their personalities probably weren't so far apart, but just looking at the wedding photo of her Jack O'Neill, who didn't appear to have any care in the world, and then comparing that photo with the man that sat next to her, his heart heavy with grief, was enough to break her heart. This Jack O'Neill was grieving the loss of her alternate the way that she was grieving the loss of his.

"We were supposed to be celebrating our first anniversary. And instead, I'm mourning his loss."

"I'm sorry." He muttered.

"I'm not here to be pitied." She said, simply. "I just want you to know that I'm here if you need to talk. The other Jack and Sam…they don't understand."

He clenched his jaw, choking back emotion.

"They don't see each other the way we saw their counterparts." She said, simply. She stood as she allowed her words to sink into his heart. "I'm down the hall if you need me."

She walked out, unaware that Jack watched her go, his heart even heavier than before.


End file.
